


Welcome to the Building (I Guess)

by Neyiea



Series: home is where you are [1]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neyiea/pseuds/Neyiea
Summary: Some new people are moving into Robbie's apartment building.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into English available: [[Podfic] Welcome to the Building (I Guess)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9302057) by [swagnushammersmith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/swagnushammersmith/pseuds/swagnushammersmith)



> I 100% blame this on tumblr, oh my gosh, there is such good fan art and I have been pulled into LazyTown fandom.

It’s well past noon when Robbie stumbles out of bed, and even then it’s not really by choice. New people are moving in today, in the apartment directly above him, and they’re making enough of a racket that he’s ready to swear on his mother’s grave that he will hate them forever. 

He’d thought he was getting a great deal when he’d first moved into his place; living in a corner apartment on the first floor of a building with only two levels and no basement apartments. But with the scraping and shuffling going on overhead, it’s clear that all good things, such as beautiful silence, come to an end.

He snarls to himself as he turns his coffee maker on, glaring at the ceiling as he hears echoes of faint laughter from above. How many people were moving in, anyway? Or had the entire building except for him been invited to some sort of inane housewarming party? Not that he cared of course. He was much better off here, alone in his apartment, stirring in spoonful after spoonful of sugar until his coffee surpassed the finest elixir of the gods.

He brought the steaming mug to his lips with a happy sigh, downing half the coffee in one go. Then more laughter sounded out from above him, and his grip on the mug tightened until his knuckles went white.

“This day,” he declared loudly to himself, “is going to be horrible.”

Perhaps it would be best for him to just crawl back into bed and hope that the new tenants would calm down?

Or he could go upstairs and tell them to shut up in person, which seemed much more fulfilling and effective. 

He loved laying down the law with other tenants. It was amazing how terrifying he could be when he was properly motivated and completely exhausted; these new people would quiet down once they knew who they were messing with. 

He finished off his coffee and was contemplating the pros and cons of making himself breakfast before going upstairs to forcefully put an end to the ruckus when a knock brought his thoughts slamming to a halt. 

He slowly, suspiciously made his was to his apartment door, jerking in surprise when there was another knock. 

People didn’t just go out of their way to visit him, and frankly he liked it better when he was left alone, which he had always been very vocal about.

He heard a faint call of “hello” from the other side of the door. Peculiar. 

He shuffled up to the door, laid a hand on the knob, and quickly flung it open to see…

Pink. So much pink.

“Oh, you are home!” A young girl smiled up at him. Why was she smiling at him? It was too early in the day for this sort of mystery. “That’s good, I asked some of the other tenants and they said that they weren’t sure if you’d be in, and mentioned that it might be best not to try until later, but I’m not very good at waiting.”

Maybe he was still asleep, having some sort of strange dream, because none of this made any sense. 

“Who are you?”

“My name is Stephanie! What’s your name?”

Robbie squinted down at her, idly contemplating the reason behind this strange young girl showing up to bother him. “I’m Robbie.”

“Good afternoon Robbie. Me and my dad are just moving in today, and I wanted to meet all of our new neighbours,” she said with so much genuine enthusiasm that Robbie almost felt bad that he was five seconds from slamming the door shut in her face, “and what better way to meet neighbours than through baked goods, right?”

“What?” He hates to admit it, but that piques his interest like no tomorrow. He loves a good cupcake every now and again, or every day.

Stephanie’s grin becomes somewhat cheeky. “Baked goods,” she chirps, and then lifts up a plate that had somehow escaped Robbie’s notice before. “Yesterday my dad and I made a few loaves of banana bread, and most of our new neighbours have dropped in to say hi so far, but since it seemed like you wouldn’t come up to us I thought I’d come down to meet you.”

Robbie stares at the plate of sliced banana bread blankly, and Stephanie’s smile dims a little.

“Do you have gluten intolerance? Because if so I could make you a loaf with a different type of flour! I’m sure it would work with any type of flour, and this recipe is really great because my dad uses stevia instead of sugar, so I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“I’m not allergic to anything, thank you.” He quickly takes the plate from her hands, narrowing his eyes at the bread. Stevia? What was stevia? “It’s just too early for so much talking.”

Stephanie gapes at him. “It’s almost two o clock.”

“Too early. Also, tell everyone upstairs that they’re being way too loud.” He takes a bite and chews thoughtfully. It’s only slightly sweet, and it’s not even the same sweetness as refined sugar. Maybe if he slathered it with some vanilla icing it would be a little better.

“Sorry about the noise. We waited until after noon to start moving in the furniture so that we wouldn’t disturb anyone’s sleep.” She briefly casts what seems an awful lot like an unimpressed look at his rumpled pyjamas before brightening back up. “I could ask if they can tone it down a little for you.”

“That would be a decent thing to do, yes.” 

“Would you like to come upstairs and meet my dad? We could ask him to be a little quieter together.”

Robbie takes another thoughtful bite of banana bread, hoping it’ll be sweeter the second time around. It’s not.

“No.”

He quickly shuts the door and starts walking to his kitchen, but pauses to look down at the plate in his hands.

Darn, now he’ll have to return the plate. He should have given it back as soon as he’d taken his first bite. 

“This calls for another cup of coffee. And pancakes,” he decides.

On the bright side things upstairs quiet down, although he can’t be sure if it’s because Stephanie actually asked them to or because they’d finished moving in the furniture. On the other hand he’s going to have to seek her out sooner or later to return the plate, and he’d rather get it out of the way as soon as possible so that all his human interaction for the day is over. 

Once he’s devoured his pancakes and banana bread, after slathering it in icing, he changes out of his pyjamas and makes his way upstairs with the plate. The door to apartment 201 is wide open, but he knocks on the doorframe like the model tenant that he is and patiently waits for Stephanie to come to the door so he can give her the plate back and get out of there. 

It is not Stephanie that comes to the door. 

The first thought that races through Robbie’s mind is ‘look at those pecs’ followed by ‘look at that smile.’

This does not bode well for him.

“Hello,” the man greets cheerfully, extending a hand out to shake. “You must be the tenant from 101, Robbie, right?”

“Yes, that’s me,” he answers stiffly, shoving the plate into the extended hand. “Thank you for the banana bread, even though it tasted like it came from a health food store. For future reference: try to keep the noise down, _especially_ in the mornings, or I will hold a grudge against you for all eternity. Oh, and welcome to the building, I guess.”

The man’s smile turns somewhat bemused, and his eyes crinkle at the corners in an oddly charming fashion. “Your welcome, duly noted, and thank you.”

“Excellent, goodbye.” Robbie spins around on his heel and begins to stride away.

“It was nice meeting you Robbie.”

Robbie purses his lips and casts a disbelieving look over his shoulder. “Right. If you say so.”

The man laughs, as if he thinks Robbie is joking. “I’ll see you around.”

“Not likely,” Robbie mutters to himself as he turns back around and heads for the stairs. He doesn’t go out of his way to be friendly with the other tenants, in fact he usually only seeks them out if they’re doing something to irritate him. So really, it’s best for everyone involved if there’s as little interaction between he and everyone else as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments guys! I hope you all enjoy the next chapter. :)

If there is one sight that Robbie doesn’t expect to see when he’s coming home with a bag full of stuff from the corner store it’s a small pink entity, flipping through a textbook, blocking off half the stairway that leads into the foyer of their apartment complex. He’s managed to avoid the new tenants without a problem for the few weeks that they’ve been here, not a particularly difficult feat when they seem to be morning people and he is very much not, but having to walk past someone in such close quarters usually means there’s going to be some sort of eye contact, or silent nodding in greeting, or even worse, conversation.

It’s just as he fears the worst that Stephanie spots him.

“Hello Robbie.” She smiles brightly in greeting.

Robbie mumbles a barely intelligible, “hello Stephanie,” back before straightening himself out. “Shouldn’t you be studying inside?” He asks clearly. “Where there are desks, and actual chairs, and you won’t be in anyone’s way?”

“I like the outdoors,” Stephanie responds back simply, appearing to ignore his deliberate jab. “I feel like I can concentrate better out here than inside.”

“And you’re loitering at the front of the building because…?”

“Dad doesn’t want me wandering too far off since we’re still new to the neighbourhood, and if I go to a park I’ll want to play instead of work.” She idly flips a page of her textbook and frowns at it. Robbie glances down at the book, slightly curious, and when he peels his eyes away Stephanie is staring up at him thoughtfully.

“What?”

“Could you help me with my math homework?”

“Why?”

“Because it would be a nice thing to do.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” he begins slowly, “but I’m not a very nice person.”

Her brief unimpressed look makes another appearance. 

“You have noticed, good, I’m not sure why you’re asking me questions that you know the answer to.”

“You never know until you try. Though maybe it’s for the best, it’s probably been a long time since you’ve done math like this. Who knows if you’d remember how to do everything properly?”

Robbie narrows his eyes at her. “Are you trying to insinuate that I am so unfamiliar with fifth grade math--”

“Sixth grade!”

“--that I wouldn’t be able to help you with your homework, even if I wanted to, in an attempt to strong-arm me into helping you?”

Stephanie cocks her head to the side and doesn’t answer.

“Well I’ll have you know that sort of _underhanded method_ \--” he pauses briefly for emphasis, “--warms the husk of my cold heart. It reminds me of myself in my youth,” he lets out a wistful sigh and Stephanie giggles.

“You sound like an old man when you speak like that.”

Robbie frowns at her pointedly and she mimes zipping her lips shut. 

Here was a conundrum for the ages: be a good and helpful neighbour, or walk away and forget about it? Or, to look at it from a slightly different angle: show off the fact that math actually was a strong suit of his that he would have no problems with, or leave and possibly instil the belief that he wasn’t as smart as he actually was?

Well, when he puts it like that there really is no option. He has his pride, after all.

“Right, well.” He sits down beside her on the steps, long legs folding in front of him as he places his plastic bag to the side. “Show me what you’re having problems with.”

“But we’re blocking off the whole stairway now, shouldn’t we move?”

“No.”

Stephanie laughs and points to a problem on the page that Robbie had glanced over previously.

“Alright, listen closely because I’m only going to explain this to you once,” he begins seriously before delving into the details of how to solve that particular problem. Then Stephanie asks about another, and another, and soon enough he’s having her do them on her own while he watches her work, pointedly coughing when she messes up a step or humming in interest when she’s doing everything right.

They’ve only been at it for maybe ten or fifteen minutes when Robbie is overcome with the unnerving feeling that he is being watched. He freezes, then very slowly turns so that in his peripheral vision he can spot Stephanie’s dad watching them from the doorway with a warm smile on his face. Stephanie asks him a question that he can’t quite make out, too distracted with his own thoughts about how anyone could have such a nice smile, and when he doesn’t answer she turns to look at him quizzically before glancing to the doorway herself.

“Hi dad!”

“Hello Stephanie,” he greets. His grin somehow manages to become brighter as he strides towards them, folding his arms behind his back and leaning a little to look over Stephanie’s book. “Is Robbie helping you with your homework?”

Stephanie nods enthusiastically. “He’s very smart, and he’s good at teaching.”

“Yes, this is true.” Robbie agrees easily enough before grabbing onto his plastic bag and hoisting himself onto his feet. Best for him to get back inside before he did anything embarrassing, like ask the other man if he waxed his moustache. “But you’ve got the basics down now, and I should get going.”

“Wait one moment.” Stephanie’s dad, Robbie is probably going to have to ask what his name is if they keep interacting, raises a hand in a stopping gesture and looks pointedly at the bag Robbie is holding. “Is that three two litre bottles of soda?”

“And a bag of chips,” Robbie adds helpfully. Father and daughter share a horrified look.

“But why so much?”

“There was a sale; buy two get one free. Who can say no to a deal like that? Especially with the amount I go through.”

“Robbie," the other man's eyebrows pinch together in a mystifying display of concern, "do you know how bad that stuff is for you?”

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t care.”

Stephanie’s father looks blindsided. He must be some sort of health nut, that banana bread makes complete sense now. He also looks like he’s about to start lecturing so Robbie quickly darts past him into the foyer, using his long legs to his advantage as he speed-walks to his apartment. 

He should have suspected this. No one has biceps like that without being active _and_ being careful about what they eat. Which are coincidentally two of Robbie’s least favourite things. He should probably be more careful about keeping his distance, lest his wandering eyes lead him into an awkward situation.

Gosh, he feels second-hand embarrassment coming on just from imagining it. He’d be stuck between staring at the man’s gorgeous eyes and his bright smile and his unwarranted muscles, then Stephanie would ask him what he was doing and he’d have to bite back the explanation of ‘your dad is kind of hot.’

That was not happening. Ever.

Later in the evening there’s a knock on his door and he really contemplates not answering at all until it become obvious from the continued rapping that whoever is on the opposite side, one guess as to who it could be, isn’t going to leave any time soon.

He opens the door with a put-upon sigh. “Yes, hello, did you need help with science next?”

Stephanie blinks up at him. “Well, not right now, but that’s awfully nice of you to offer Robbie. If I have any trouble I’ll be sure to ask you for help!”

He sputters in denial, which she ignores and ploughs on. 

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel like my dad was judging you or anything based on your dietary habits,” she says maturely, folding her hands in front of herself. “He’s an athlete and a personal trainer, so nutrition is something that he’s really passionate about.”

It all makes so. Much. Sense.

“I am also very passionate about nutrition, specifically when it involves dessert.” 

Stephanie frowns at him, apparently not enjoying his sense of humour. “You know, since you helped me with my homework I thought that I could give you some nutritional advice.” Robbie’s expression quickly turns alarmed. “How about you have dinner with my dad and I sometime? We’ll make you some of our favourite recipes, and make sure we have plenty of leftovers for you to take home.”

“Thanks but no thanks. Goodnight.” He shuts the door and leans his back against it, as if to act as a human barricade.

Him? Eating with people who probably portion controlled everything and counted their carb intake? Who actually used the food pyramid as a guideline? Who would smile and flex at him enough to give him heart palpitations? 

How about no.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh guys, your comments really make my day! I hope you like this next part. <3

Sportacus has a sixth sense for when his daughter is planning something. He thinks part of it is from having a child, and becoming a single parent, relatively early on in life. Like a slight build-up of paranoia that makes him hypersensitive to changes in her mood, expression, and tone of voice. The other part is just from knowing her so well, and always ensuring that he’s involved in her everyday life.

So today, when she chooses to focus completely on her salad instead of informing him about her day at school and whether she has any plans for the weekend, he knows for sure that she is building up to something.

He also knows that she’ll tell him whatever’s on her mind before they’re finished eating so he doesn’t push for answers as to why she’s being so quiet. Besides, he feels as though he has a decent guess as to what, or who, she might want to talk about.

“Robbie helped me with my science homework today,” Stephanie informs him between the last few bites of her falafel burger.

“That is very nice of him.” He had noticed them sitting out on the front steps again when he’d been doing some light meditation out on the terrace. “I hope you are making sure to thank him whenever he works with you on your homework.”

“Of course I do! He’s been really helpful, even though I think he’d rather be alone most of the time.”

“He does seem to be a little reclusive,” Sportacus agrees readily. He could count on one hand how many times he’d actually exchanged words with the other man, and they’d been living in the same apartment for a month now. Robbie never seemed to go out of his way to initiate contact, and it was only through chance that they ever crossed paths.

He also acted a little odd whenever Sportacus attempted to talk to him. There would be points during their conversation where Robbie’s eyes would drift to the side to gaze at a fixed point over Sportacus’s shoulder instead of his face. It almost gave the impression that the other man was shy, but that didn’t seem right.

Robbie did seem to be acclimatizing to Stephanie though, who could be quite a handful to people who weren’t as energetic as she was. And honestly it was nice to have another adult figure around who could look out for Stephanie in some way, even if it was just spending a half an hour helping with her homework once or twice a week. Or rather; _especially_ if it was helping with her homework, because clearly something about the way Robbie interacted with her during those times made her feel comfortable enough to approach him again when she needed help.

And he would readily admit that it pulled at his heartstrings a bit too. The first time that he had seen Robbie helping Stephanie with her homework, patiently guiding her through problems before letting her become more independent with them, had left quite an impression on him.

“You’ve invited him over for dinner, yes?” He asks as he collects their empty plates and deposits them into the sink. A small part of him cringes every time Stephanie brings back a report that Robbie has decided to refuse dining with them. He’s spent the majority of his life being extra cautious about what he eats, and he really does try not to be judgmental about what other people ingest. Not everyone depends on their body to work the way he depends on his, not everybody has the time or money to prepare healthy meals themselves, not everybody has had one-on-one sessions with dieticians. Still, it seems like the majority of the time that Robbie leaves his apartment it is so that he can go to the corner store for snacks, or go to pick up takeout. He wasn’t sure he ever saw the man coming home with actual groceries and he was concerned.

Perhaps a little more concerned than he would be with any other tenant, but he doesn’t dwell on that thought for too long.

“I don’t know if he takes me seriously when I’m the one asking.” Stephanie lays her arms across the kitchen table and pouts up at him. “I think you should ask him.”

“I could try, but I don’t see why he’d accept an invitation from me and not you.”

“Because you’re an adult, and he’s an adult, and I’m in the sixth grade,” Stephanie tells him in a matter-of-fact tone. “He’d accept the offer if it came from you, I’m sure of it.”

Her confidence makes him smile. “Well, if you are so sure then perhaps I will go down once we are finished washing the dishes and invite him to have dinner with us tomorrow.”

She perks up instantly, nearly launching herself out of her chair so that she can push him out of the kitchen. “I can do the dishes by myself! Go ask him now!”

“Why the rush?”

“I want us to make stuff he’ll really like so we’ll need to look through our recipe books for the very best meals, and we might have to pick up some ingredients.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go now,” he concedes with a laugh, reaching out a hand to ruffle her hair. “Cross your fingers for me that I’ll bring back good news.”

“I will.”

He quickly makes his way out the door and down the stairs, and then cheerily knocks on the door of apartment 101.

“What’s next on the list then,” Robbie’s voice comes from behind the door just before it begins to open, “because I’ll have you know that I’m not great at geographyyyyy.” He makes an odd wheezing noise once the door is fully open.

“Hello Robbie.”

Robbie stares at him. “You’re not Stephanie.”

“No I am not,” he agrees with amusement. “I came down to ask you if you’d like to have dinner with me and Stephanie tomorrow.”

Robbie continues to stare.

“We would both be very pleased to have you over.” 

“Well,” Robbie’s eyes dart to the side, and he crosses his arms over his chest, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, I mean, I hardly know you.”

“You hardly know me?” Sportacus raises his eyebrows curiously. “What makes you think that?”

Robbie glances back at him, fingers tapping rapidly against his arms in a nervous fashion. “Your name, for one thing. I don’t know it.”

“Don’t know it? But didn’t I…” Sportacus trails off, eyes widening in surprise. “I never formally introduced myself. The first time we met I knew who you were because Stephanie told me your name, and then I never told you mine.”

“That was how it went, yes.”

How awful! No wonder Robbie was so awkward around him, all this time Sportacus hadn’t even bothered to do what ought to be done whenever meeting someone new. Perhaps Robbie thought he was just being rude, or had even taken the lack of introduction as a sign that Sportacus didn’t like him!

This had to be rectified. Immediately.

“I’m so sorry Robbie, that was very remiss of me. Here, let’s start fresh.” He clears his throat before holding out his hand and smiling. “Good evening. My name is Sportacus, my daughter Stephanie and I have just recently moved in to the apartment right above yours. It is very nice to meet you.”

Robbie looks down at his extended hand, back up to his eyes, then down at the hand again as if he was carefully thinking out his next move.

“… Right.”

Sportacus wiggles his fingers, and when Robbie glances back up at his eyes he widens them a little and tries to make his smile as inviting as possible.

Robbie sighs and reached forward to clasp his hand.

“I’m Robbie,” he says in a dry tone, like he doesn’t really understand why he’s doing this.

Oh well, all that mattered was that they were finally properly introduced. He shakes Robbie’s hand vigorously.

“It is so good to meet you Robbie! I was hoping that, in an effort to get to know you better, you might have dinner with my daughter and I tomorrow.” Robbie’s fingers twitch against his, and Sportacus lets go of his hand.

“Uh… I’m not sure…”

Sportacus’s smile begins to fade.

“That is to say, I’m not sure what uh…” Robbie’s eyes drift off to the side, and Sportacus casually takes a step in that direction to keep in his line of sight. He also pouts, just a little, and Robbie’s eyes go wide.

“What… Time. What time I should… Come over?” Robbie blinks rapidly, as if he can’t believe he asked such a question.

“Six would be great! Is there anything in particular that you really like to eat?”

“Sweets,” Robbie answers, tone completely serious. “I love cake more than I love people.”

Sportacus tries not to let any concern show on his face. “I see. Is there anything else? A favourite fruit, or vegetable, or source of lean protein?”

Robbie silently mouths the word ‘lean protein’, as if he doesn’t quite understand what it means. Sportacus and Stephanie will probably have their work cut out for them, finding and making something that Robbie likes, but he must admit that he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“I suppose I eat vegetables when they’re in a stir-fry, or on pizza.” Robbie props his chin in one hand and squints his eyes as if he’s thinking very hard. “Can’t really taste them through all the soy-sauce or cheese.”

“That’s a good starting point. Is there anything else you really like?”

Robbie shrugs, and his eyes stay glued on the ceiling. “I don’t really go out of my way to try different things very often. I eat what I’ve always eaten.”

“Well, hopefully we can make you something new to enjoy!” Sportacus reaches out to clasp one hand on Robbie’s shoulder and briefly wonders why the other man feels so tense. “I’ll see you at six tomorrow.”

“Yes, six, right.” Robbie takes a step back into his apartment, looking a little dazed. “I look forward to it.”

“Me too. Have a good night Robbie.”

Robbie nods and shuts the door.

Once he gets back to his apartment and tells Stephanie the news she seems happy but not surprised.

“I told you that he’d agree if you were the one asking,” she says from where she’s rinsing soap off the dishes. Sportacus leans against the doorway to the kitchen and nods.

“Yes you did.”

“It took a bit longer than I thought it would, though. Did it really take that long to convince him?”

“Ah, I believe part of that was my fault.”

Her eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. “But dad, you never do anything wrong.”

What did he ever do to deserve such a sweet daughter? He must have been extra-good in a past life or something.

“Everyone has faults Stephanie.” He tells her as he makes his way to her side, grabbing a dish-towel and starting to dry the plates that she had stacked up. “I never really introduced myself to Robbie in the entire month we’ve been here. I think he’s been a little distant with me because he didn’t know my name until five minutes ago.”

Stephanie’s eyes go comically wide. 

“I know, it was quite negligent of me not to find the time to introduce myself properly, especially when he’s been so helpful. But--” he lays one hand on her shoulder, “I’ll definitely make up for it!”

“Are we going to make him the best dinner ever?”

“I believe we are.”

They share a smile.

“And I think, to really make sure that we make a lasting impression, we are going to have to make a dessert like nothing Robbie’s ever had before.”

That would definitely be the key to the success of the entire night.

Stephanie nods quickly, clapping her hands together with enthusiasm. “I’ll look through our recipe books for something super-special.”

“Excellent. Write up a list of anything we may need, and after my morning run tomorrow I’ll head straight to the grocery store.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this chapter ended up being almost twice as long as the others since there was so much I wanted to add, haha. As always, I hope you like it.

5:58

It was like the clock on his computer monitor was mocking him. Robbie slid out of his chair and cracked his back before stepping out of the second bedroom that he’d converted into an office space.

Maybe he should pretend to be sick. Or that he had a family emergency. Or that an urgent project had come up and he’d have to pull an all-nighter to finish it.

Honestly, it was like every time Sportacus spoke to him Robbie became a little more enthralled. Why did someone so good looking also have to be so _nice_? It just wasn’t fair. The man had actually, genuinely seemed apologetic that he hadn’t introduced himself properly and had been so delighted when Robbie shook his hand. How was Robbie supposed to say no to the invitation after that?

There was no way he was going to survive this dinner with his pride in tact, he could barely make it though conversations that lasted a handful of minutes. What had he done to deserve this?

Oh right, helping Stephanie with her homework.

Or maybe this was something that they did with all the people in the apartment building. Maybe they’d had everyone over for dinner in an attempt to get to know their new neighbours better. Maybe asking Robbie to have dinner with them wasn’t a noteworthy action for them to take.

For some reason that thought makes him feel even worse.

“Why must I have emotions?” He sighs. “It’s exhausting.” 

Instead of the cosmos giving him the answer that he so desperately seeks he hears a knock on his door.

He’s a little wary, unsure if it’s the father or daughter who’s decided to show up to escort him upstairs as if they suspected that he’d be having second thoughts about actually showing up. He opens the door slowly, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief when it turns out to be Stephanie.

“Hi Robbie, I hope you’ve worked up an appetite today!”

“I guess you could say that.” Or not, considering he’d been sitting in front of his computer for nearly the entire day. 

“Good to hear! Me and dad are really happy that you finally decided to say yes to our invitation.” She gives him a look of great significance, which unnerves him. “Any particular reason why you would say yes to my dad when you’ve said no to me every time I asked?”

“What? No! Why would you even think that? No, of course not. There’s no reason at all, “ he babbles, feeling almost as if he’s digging a hole for himself with every word that escapes his mouth.

Stephanie hums in an unconvinced manner. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” She begins to walk away and Robbie scurries after her, almost forgetting to close the door to his apartment in his haste.

“There’s no reason, really.” She glances up at him out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t know why you’d even think otherwise.”

“Well,” she drawls, “my dad is pretty great. He’s fun, and nice, and he can do four backflips in a row!”

Oh. Wow.

“People generally like spending time with him.”

“Ah-ha, but that’s it, isn’t it? All the other tenants have said yes when he asked them to have dinner with you, so me saying yes doesn’t have to mean that there was any particular reason behind it!” Such as having his defenses lowered by a handshake of all things, and then finding himself unprepared to deal with a seriously convincing set of puppy-dog-eyes. 

Stephanie furrows her eyebrows. “We haven’t asked anyone else to have dinner with us.”

“Oh.” Were his knees starting to feel a little weak?

“All I’m saying is I’m pretty sure there’s a reason why you said yes when my dad was the one to ask you. And I’m pretty sure you know what it is.” She opens the door to her apartment before Robbie can say anything to defend himself, and then grins at him cheekily as she waves him inside.

He takes a deep, calming breath—it may sound like she knew something but she was a kid how could she possibly have figured it out—and steps over the threshold.

“Welcome to our humble abode.”

“Thanks.”

The layout is exactly the same as his apartment so it’s only too easy to find the kitchen where Sportacus appears to be doing some finishing touches to the meal. Stephanie coughs lightly to catch her dad’s attention, and when he looks up and sees Robbie his smile is almost blinding.

He’s doomed.

“Robbie! Glad you could make it.”

“Glad to be here,” Robbie says after he somehow manages to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. Stephanie takes his hand and leads him around the island to where the table is already set up, and eagerly points out the spot that is meant to be his, which is facing away from where Sportacus is currently plating their dinner. However, judging from the spot that Stephanie seats herself in, he’s going to be sitting directly across from Sportacus for the duration of the meal. 

So doomed.

The thing that Sportacus brings from the kitchen is a tray of fresh vegetables and three small bowls of some sort of dip that looks almost too orange to be real.

“It’s sweet potato hummus,” Stephanie helpfully informs him when she catches him trying to discreetly smell it.

“Right. I knew that.” He very carefully grabs a slice of green pepper, dips it lightly into the hummus, and tries to ignore the feeling that he’s the center of attention even though Sportacus and Stephanie are currently loading up their own plates with veggies and not looking at him.

He takes a tiny bite. The crunch of the pepper is satisfying to hear, and the taste is… Not as terrible as he was expecting, but he’s far more accustomed to the flavours of vegetables being completely masked by something else, and he hasn’t eaten them raw in what feels like an eternity. It would probably be rude to not eat the rest of it, though, and then he might get two sets of puppy-dog-eyes looking his way, which he doesn’t think he could survive at the moment, so he shoves the rest of it in his mouth.

“Try the radishes too, they’re really good,” Stephanie says, pushing the tray a little closer to him. He attempts to smile at her, unsure whether his expression reads as grateful or pained, and very carefully keeps his eyes from drifting to the opposite side of the table as he cautiously picks up another vegetable.

He finds it very hard not to look when Sportacus starts making conversation though. He talks about the city that he and Stephanie used to live in before, and how he’d been so pleased at the opportunity to move to a more rural area, where smog warnings and noise pollution could become a distant memory.

“Have you always lived in town Robbie?”

“Pretty much.” Robbie glances up, not wanting to seem completely rude by not looking up from his plate at all. “I was born here, grew up here, and only left for a handful of years to get through university before coming back and settling down on my own.”

Sportacus folds his hands together, eyes twinkling, and Robbie quickly turns his gaze back down. “You must really like it here.”

“I suppose.” Robbie shrugs, dunking a piece of broccoli in his hummus just to have something to do with his hands. “It’s what I’m used to. And the city was too crowded and noisy, it would drive me up the wall to have stayed there after university, it wouldn’t have been worth it. Working independently from home doesn’t pay as well, but it’s far more convenient.”

“Well I’m glad you came back after university. It gave us the opportunity to meet, after all.”

Robbie feels like he could melt into a puddle on the floor. It doesn’t help that Stephanie’s face only seems to be getting brighter the more uncomfortable he feels.

Sportacus takes the empty tray and the small bowls away, then carries out what Robbie assumes is the main course. Grilled vegetables and noodles with thickly sliced chicken, lightly coated with a sauce that Robbie inwardly prays he’ll be able to handle the taste of.

“Thank you.” It’s probably his turn to make conversation now, though it’s been so long since he’s had a meal with someone that the social cues in this situation are a distant memory at best. Also, he’s really not too keen on talking about himself. “So, Stephanie tells me that you can do four backflips in a row.”

Sportacus chuckles and sends his daughter a warm look. “I’m not surprised she’d tell you that, I think it might be one of her favourite things about me.”

“It is not,” she protests, “I just think it’s one of the coolest things about you.” She turns to Robbie. “You should go with him to the gym sometime, then he can show you in person. You’ll be really impressed.”

Robbie could probably list a thousand things he’d rather do than ever step foot in a gym.

“Seeing it in person is so much better than watching old videos on the internet. The footage of dad’s competitions from when he was a teenager is always so low quality, it’s really too bad.” Her face scrunches up in distaste.

“I’m sure Robbie has better things to do than look up footage from the earliest part of my career.”

Actually Robbie is pretty sure he can make some time for that.

“I’ve come a long way since then. Watching me in person would definitely be better.” He catches Robbie’s eyes over the table and honest to goodness _winks_ at him.

Those thousand reasons seem to flutter away, leaving Robbie’s mind blank of excuses. He hums ambiguously and quickly starts digging into the food in front of him, only noticing when he’s almost done that half of the noodles aren’t actually noodles, but are instead a thinly sliced, pale vegetable.

He’s been deceived! Turning vegetables into noodles; what a devious plot, what an absolute farce, what a…

He eats a single vegetable noodle by itself, and maybe has to admit to himself that it’s not terrible.

Stephanie and Sportacus both grin at him when he empties his bowl, as if they are under the impression that he’s done something completely out of his comfort zone.

What gave it away?

“I’ll go grab dessert,” Stephanie says when they’ve all finished, leaping out of her chair to stack their bowls up and place them in the sink. She rummages around a little and Robbie resists the urge to turn and stare at what might be considered dessert in this household, which means that he’s looking in Sportacus’s direction instead.

“I think you’re really going to like this, Robbie. I was surprised when Stephanie picked out this particular recipe, but it did seem to be perfect for you.”

“Oh?” He’s somewhat intrigued. Maybe it won’t end up being a fruit salad after all.

Sportacus’s smile takes on a somewhat mischievous edge. “You know, I had to go out and buy sugar just so we could make it exactly according to my grandmother’s recipe.”

Sportacus bought sugar just to make him dessert?

“How are you so perfect,” he breathes. 

“Sorry?”

“It sounds perfect,” he all but shrieks, inwardly cursing the heat that he can feel blooming in his cheeks.

“It is! Usually I do not care for sweets, and it’s difficult to fit them into my diet when I’m so used to cutting them out, but everything is good in moderation, especially when it involves old family recipes.” He winks. Again. “I must admit that it has been a while since I’ve baked anything quite like this, so it probably doesn’t hold up to my grandmother’s standards.”

“Well I think it will be even better,” Stephanie says as she places a small round cake in the center of the table.

The latticework on the top gives it an almost pie-like appearance, and something about it seems awfully familiar. The scent brings back very faint memories of his own grandmother’s kitchen, and a dessert with a crumbly top filled with rhubarb and brown sugar that she’d always bake for special occasions. 

“Here we are.” Sportacus takes a knife and carefully cuts into the cake, sliding the first piece over to Robbie. “I hope you enjoy it, this is what my grandmother would call Hjónabandssæla.”

The name strikes him with immediate familiarity.

“Your grandmother, she was Icelandic?”

Sportacus blinks at him in surprise. “She was.”

“Mine too.” 

“Ha, you don’t say!” Sportacus looks absolutely delighted as he cuts another piece. “Then Stephanie really did pick out the best thing for you to have.”

Stephanie beams at them both before digging into her own cake.

Robbie eats uncharacteristically slow. He’s so used to devouring much larger portions in a much shorter time, but it wouldn’t feel right to eat what was in front of him without really savouring it. It’s not exactly how his grandmother’s used to taste, but it’s similar enough that the nervousness that he’d been feeling throughout the evening eases, the familiarity of the taste and texture making him feel comfortable, like he’s somewhere he belongs.

He even takes Sportacus up on his offer to stay a bit later for some tea, and while he’s busy filling up the kettle Stephanie somehow coercers him deeper into the living area of the apartment where a shelf displays numerous gleaming trophies and medals. And, when he looks close enough, he sees that it’s not always Sportacus’s name engraved on them.

“Soccer season will start soon, I play central midfielder,” she states the position proudly, but her voice becomes slightly timid as she continues, “when we start going to meets will you come watch me play?”

Robbie feels at a loss for words. He’s helped her with homework, but surely that wasn’t reason enough for him to get invited to something like this, as if he were an old family friend.

Stephanie stares up at him hopefully and Robbie frantically tries to think of something to say.

“Would your dad be okay with me being there?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“May I ask why you’d like me to come?”

“School can be tough, and sometimes I need things to be explained to me more than the other kids so that I can understand it fully,” she says it softly, like she wishes to keep it a secret, “when you explain things you go into detail about why I need to solve problems a certain way, or why I need to do things in a certain order, and even though you say that you’ll only explain it once you always answer me when I have more questions.” She fidgets a little. “You don’t make me feel stupid when I ask you questions.”

Robbie is at once filled with an odd mix of joy, at knowing that he’s been so helpful, and anger, at the idea that there was some instance in Stephanie’s short life where she was made to feel as if asking questions was a bad thing.

“Asking for assistance when you need it is not something that you should ever feel bad about. Everyone needs a little help sometimes, and admitting you need help can take a lot of courage.” He somehow manages to resist demanding if any of her new teachers in town have made her feel wary about requiring a little extra aid. “If you ever need help, well, I work from home, and I don’t get out much, so I’m almost always there. I’m not very good with people,” he cringes a bit, feeling like that’s the understatement of the year, “so it might not always seem like it, but I don’t mind helping you.”

She smiles at him, a bit more subdued than usual. “Thanks Robbie.”

“Now then, when exactly does soccer season start?”

Stephanie darts forward to give him a quick hug, extracting herself before he can even begin to process it.

“Our first match will be in a couple weeks, no exact date yet, but I’ll tell you as soon as I know!”

Apparently all it’s taken is one month for him to get wrapped around this girl’s finger.

But it’s kind of nice, to feel wanted.

“Tea’s ready,” Sportacus calls from the kitchen, thus Robbie and Stephanie make their way back to the table. Robbie’s still reeling a bit at the knowledge that he’s somehow become important enough for Stephanie to invite him to soccer matches that he doesn’t feel as flustered as he normally would when Sportacus grins directly at him after Stephanie tells her father that Robbie’s agreed to come to her games. He even admits that he doesn’t know much about soccer, and Stephanie is quick to offer help in teaching him the basics. 

“Plus I’ll be sitting with you during the matches,” Sportacus is quick to add, “I’d be happy to answer any questions you ask.”

Robbie looks down at his tea and smiles. “I’ll be sure to ask a lot, then.”

He leaves apartment 201 with half a leftover cake, a promise that they’ll all have to do this again sometime, and a soccer rule book.

He goes to bed smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie knows all, Stephanie sees all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it to the end guys! Thanks again for all of your lovely comments, this is the first multi-chaptered fic I've written in over a year and I had so much fun with it that I think I'll do a couple more stand-alone stories within this AU.  
> As always, enjoy! <3

Three months ago if someone had told Robbie that he would willingly be sitting on a pair of crowded bleachers, stuffed to the brim with loud parents, cheering on a children’s soccer team and actually enjoying himself, well, he would have insisted that they were absolutely out of their minds.

This is the third game he’s come to, and the first one that they’ve had to drive to a different town to watch. He’s actually gotten used to sitting next to Sportacus now, the first game he’d been to he’d been terrified that he’d say something weird the entire time, and then end up being told that he shouldn’t come to any more matches. The second game he’d calmed down a little, and was able to ask a few questions and get a better understanding of how to follow along. It’s a good thing too, because he can barely hear himself think over the cheers and screams from the parents around him so he doesn’t think he’ll be asking any questions today.

Sportacus isn’t the sort of parent who barks orders from the sidelines, thank goodness, but he does cheer loudly when Stephanie’s team makes a goal, or when Stephanie herself shows off some pretty advanced looking footwork.

Robbie cheers during those moments too. It’s actually kind of invigorating.

He also glances at Sportacus out of the corner of his eye a lot, because the man is _right there_ and he only has so much self control. 

He looks at him even more than usual today, maybe because they’re sitting so close together. Their thighs are pressed right up against each other, and their shoulders occasional brush, and Robbie is in so deep that that alone makes his heart race.

He contemplates what it would be like to press closer, to wrap an arm around Sportacus’s shoulders, or thread their fingers together.

He’s head over heels, and he doesn’t mind at all.

Sportacus leans in close enough that Robbie can feel the warmth of his breath as he speaks.

“Are you alright? You keep looking at me.”

Darn, he’d noticed.

“I really like you,” Robbie says, hardly able to hear his own voice over the uproar around them as the opposing team scores a goal. 

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” Sportacus leans in a little closer, the corners of his eyes crinkling with how wide he’s smiling. 

“I really like watching soccer,” Robbie projects his voice and pretends it’s the chill of the evening air that’s making his face go red.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it!” Sportacus playfully nudges against him before turning his attention back to the game, his own cheers becoming a little louder as they enter into the last few minutes of the match.

Stephanie’s team wins, and Robbie’s palms sting from how hard he claps his hands together.

The teams huddle for a brief post-game word form their coach before lining up to shake the opposing players’ hands. Once that’s done with the parents start standing and trying to step down from the bleachers all at once, so Robbie and Sportacus stay sitting until most of them have safely made their way down.

Almost as soon as they step onto the sidelines of the field Stephanie rushes into her father’s arms and he actually picks her up and spins her around several times, both of them laughing, before setting her back down and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

“That was excellent work out there, you and your team played very well!”

Stephanie wraps her arms tightly around his waist before taking a small step back, sending a questioning look Robbie’s way as if she’s seeking his approval as well.

“You know what this calls for once we get back to town? Ice cream,” he tells her seriously. Stephanie smiles brightly and sends a questioning look to her dad, who nods in assent. 

“I don’t see the harm in having a treat.”

“And I’ll get to show you the best ice cream place around. Once you’ve tried this stuff you’ll never want to go anywhere else for ice cream again.”

“I dunno, dad makes pretty good nice cream,” she says as she takes a hold of her father’s hand.

“That’s made from frozen bananas, it doesn’t count.”

“But you liked it, right?”

“I don’t eat anything that I don’t like,” he tells her, easily falling into step on her other side as they start walking across the field toward the crowded parking lot.

Father and daughter share a satisfied look. Honestly, those two were so excited whenever he tried something new, they’d probably cry with joy if he ate kale in front of them. The thought makes him want to laugh despite how much he fiercely hates leafy greens.

He feels something warm touch his fingers and he almost wrenches his hand away in shock before he realizes that it’s Stephanie. Holding his hand. Just like she’s holding her father’s hand.

He lightly grips her fingers and stares at the ground, biting his lip to keep from smiling too widely. It probably doesn’t seem like a very big deal to her, but he’s become attached, darn it, and she’s become something like a family member that he’s never had. A younger cousin, niece, or sister, or maybe even…

He glances toward the pair beside him and decides that it would be better for him to not finish that thought. It’ll only make him wish for something that will probably never happen.

There’s improbable, and then there’s impossible. It was improbable that Robbie would even become friends with Sportacus, and anything more than that firmly dwells within the realm of impossible. 

He’s happy with what he has, though. People that he cares about, and who care about him. It’s been a long time since he’s had something even remotely like this and he’s not going to risk it for anything.

They pile into the car and Robbie contents himself with watching the evening sky darken as Sportacus and Stephanie talk more in-depth about the game, as well as how to prepare for the next match. He only speaks up once they’re getting closer to town, giving a few directions so that they make it to the ice cream parlour that’s been around ever since Robbie was a kid.

It’s barely changed since then, too, with the same flooring, paint, and decorations that it’s had since it opened. Stephanie rushes towards the display case, gazing down at the colourful ice cream and eagerly reading the descriptions of each flavour as Robbie reaches into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

“Robbie, you don’t have to pay for her.”

“My idea, my money,” he chimes back. “Besides, it’s the least I can do. Sooner or later I’m going to have to start giving you money for groceries.”

Sportacus looks bewildered at the suggestion. “That really isn’t necessary. We like having you over.”

“Well if I was at all confident in my own cooking abilities, besides breakfast foods and desserts of course, I’d have you over for dinner sometime instead, but I don’t think that will happen anytime soon.”

Sportacus smiles, shakes his head, and Robbie strides forward to see if Stephanie has made up her mind.

He orders a single scoop cone of cotton candy for Stephanie, and chocolate for himself. Stephanie gets hers first, and she smiles widely as she thanks him before racing outside towards the car. 

Robbie and Sportacus watch her run out with a matching fond look and once Robbie has his cone they follow at a more sedate pace, Sportacus smiling widely as he opens the door for Robbie to step through.

“So,” he begins cheerily, “you really like me, huh?”

Robbie almost trips over his own feet as he exits the shop. “You heard that?”

“I have good hearing.”

Alarms are blaring in Robbie’s head, his mouth moving silently as he struggles to find words to explain himself in a way that won’t end with him never being able to see Sportacus or Stephanie again.

His mouth snaps shut when, with a doting grin, Sportacus clasps their hands together.

“I like you a lot too.”

Robbie’s fingers twitch, and he stares down at their joined hands in shock.

“Just—just to clarify, and be completely sure that we’re on the same page,” he struggles to find a way to explain himself that doesn’t make it sound like he’s still in elementary school.

Sportacus has no such qualms about that.

“I _like_ like you, Robbie,” his tone is amused, but genuine.

“Oh, well then.” How, he wants to ask, and why? And maybe he will ask those questions later but for now he lets himself grip Sportacus’s hand right back, giving himself some assurance that this is actually real, and savours the warm feeling bubbling up in his chest.

They step into the parking lot, still holding hands, and when Stephanie turns from where she’s calmly waiting by the car and sees them she lets out an excited squeal before sprinting toward them, nearly dropping her cone in the process.

“I knew it,” she tells the both of them, rocking back on her heels once she comes to a stop. “I knew it!”

So that probably means Robbie was being completely obvious this whole time, but he can’t bring himself to care at the moment.

“Yes you did.”

She looks as though she’s practically thrumming with energy even though logically she should be exhausted by now. Robbie opens his arms a little and she takes the invitation to wrap her arms around his waist, careful not to smear ice cream on the back of his sweater. 

“Will you come to have dinner with us tomorrow night?”

Sportacus barks out a laugh. “Stephanie, considering the circumstances don’t you think that I should be the one asking that?”

She steps back, a thoughtful look on her face. “I guess so.”

“Robbie,” Sportacus entwines their fingers further, “would you like to have dinner with us tomorrow night?”

Robbie smiles, wide and candid, and he leans in a little closer to Sportacus so that their shoulders brush together. 

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.” And then, using up all of his recently-earned bravery, he leans down to press his lips against Sportacus’s cheek. Watching Sportacus’s face turn just as pink as his daughter’s usual garb is going to be a memory that Robbie will treasure forever.

“Let’s go home.”


End file.
